The raMEN Club
by teamnarutard
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki and his father, Namikaze Minato, has always been doing fine on their own. Minato juggles being the chief officer of Konoha PD and being a single father while Naruto finds himself at his first year at Konoha High School, about to venture into the emotional clusterfuck that is adolescence. Not to mention that annoying journalist who keeps following him around - Sasuke.
1. Meet the Uzumakis

The school bell rang throughout the building, alerting the students that lunchtime was over. Hallways filled with bustling students rushing to get to the classroom. Naruto watched enviously as the swarm through the corner of his eye through the widow, sighing heavily. Right now he would be having Geometry with Sakura Haruno, one of the cutest girls at Konoha High School, but instead, he's sitting in the principal's office.

With his father.

The commotion of hurried footsteps and students chatting excitedly soon turned into an awkward silence. Naruto could feel the anger seeping from his father, Minato Namikaze.

"So," Naruto said with a nervous smile. "How was your day?"

Minato stared at his son with a piercing glare and Naruto let his smile fall. "Three hours of high school and you're already in the principal's office." Minato chided, his fierce sapphire eyes mirroring his son's frightened ones. "Over something so petty."

Naruto felt the bandage over his bruised cheek tug at his skin when he flared up indignantly. "That bastard—"

"Language." Minato snapped.

"—was talking shit about the PD. I couldn't let him say that about you!" Naruto could hear the shrillness of his voice echo though the office and the secretary eyed him warily.

"And punching him senseless was the answer?"

"No, but it felt pretty damn good."

Naruto felt his gut twist with guilt at the look of disappointment he was given. There was nothing in the world that could make him feel worse than causing trouble for his father. Naruto was violent and short tempered; a combination that was passed down to him by his dear mother and a combination that left his social life in batters. The seconds ticked by and his guilty grew stronger and stronger by the minute. He had tried to stay out of trouble – really.

He scowled at the thought of Mizuki and his other punk friends name calling Konoha PD, one of the world's most renowned police forces around the world. Ever since his father was put in charge 16 years ago, serious and petty crime went down significantly. Naruto has been through every step of his dad's career and he seen the sweat, the blood, the tears, the hardships and the tragedies that these police officers go through for the protection of their citizens. He wasn't going to let some no name brat dishonor his Father's—the city's—respected police department.

No way in hell.

"Argh," Naruto growled under his breath. "What's taking the principal so long? That lazy bastard."

Minato furrowed his eyebrows at his son's vernacular and gave an apologetic smile to the secretary who looked at the two of them with contempt. This is what he gets for letting Tsunade and Jiraiya, of all people, babysit his child. Naruto always been a troublesome child from the start, but Minato knew that every time the boy yelled and fought, it was for the protection of those who are dear to him.

"Kurama," Minato whispered with softened eyes, using Naruto's childhood nickname.

Naruto felt his cheeks go red at the endearment and prayed that no one happened to catch a gist of that. "Don't say that so loud." Naruto whispered back, waiting for another lecture about peace over violence and how two wrongs never makes a right: things that Naruto always ended up tuning out.

"I know what they said hurt you, but fighting with people isn't going to do anything except spread more hatred. You are my son; another representation of the police department. Do you really think going around hitting people is going to make them respect us?" Minato ran his fingers through the blonde's unruly hair and his mind wandered to how Kushina would do this to rock their baby to sleep.

Naruto leaned into the motion subconsciously, surprisingly at ease. "I'm really sorry. It's just I got mad and all I wanted to do was—"

"—explode?" Minato finished with a small chuckle. "You really are your mother's son."

Naruto felt himself laughing. "Yeah, but I bet mom would've packed a stronger punch."

They both laughed at this, but were promptly shushed by the secretary who said that the principal was on an important phone call. Naruto felt light and prideful from being considered part of the police department. He couldn't wait until he wore the same badge that his father bears proudly on his uniform.

"Kurama?"

"Yeah Dad?"

"Thank you."

* * *

"Say what again?"

Naruto stared incredulously at the principal. Hiruzen Sarutobi had rough lines on his face and eyed the two blondes with a soft consideration. He was a short, balding man with tuffs of greying hair that wrapped around the sides of his head like a halo. The top of his head shone brightly in the sunshine coming from his window and Naruto almost had to shield his eyes when the sun moved just a centimeter to the left.

"It's good to see you again, Minato." Sarutobi said, voice rumbling and sounding like it came back from the depths of the Earth. Mysterious and older than time itself.

Minato gave his former teacher a respectable bow and Naruto thought that his dad looked like a high schooler in the presence of the older male. "It would be a pleasure if it wasn't for such…" Minato frowned at his son. "…extreme circumstances."

Sarutobi chuckled and Naruto almost fell off from his chair. Is no one going to talk about the elephant in the room? Is no one else appalled by the statement that this old man uttered? Does anybody _understand?_

"I have to give up BASKETBALL?" Naruto cried out, interrupting the pleasant small talk that the two older men were having. "I mean detention is one thing, suspension is another, but BASKETBALL? I spent the whole summer practicing with the team! I'm the star player! Coach Iruka would never forgive me if I can't compete in games!"

"You should have thought about that before you went off punching the student body president." Sarutobi remarked curtly. "Instead, you will be spending after school in a new club formed in the school, headed by Kakashi Hatake. Community service, helping the school and enrichment."

Sarutobi gave him a sly smile. "Think of it as probation."

"B-But the team!" Naruto blundered like a child.

"Naruto, listen to your elders. Sarutobi-sensei knows what's best for his students." Minato said with finality.

A pang a betrayal went through the younger blonde's heart at his dad's words. He was siding with this? His dad saw how hard he worked to get to varsity this year and how much this meant to him, doesn't he understand how Naruto feels? Naruto stiffened in his seat, feeling a deep sense of shock and defeat in his stomach. He hated that feeling.

"So is that clear?" Sarutobi asked.

"Yes, sir." Naruto mumbled under his breath, eyes downcast.

"Then you are dismissed." Sarutobi waved his hand at him signaling him to go. "Minato, I would like for you to stay for a bit."

Naruto tried not to slam the door on his way out, but he guesses he ended up doing it anyways when he saw how annoyed the secretary was as he walked out of the office and onto whatever class he had right now. Naruto hated that he had to go tell Coach Iruka afterschool that he couldn't participate in games anymore, he hated that his dad didn't seem to care about what matters to him anymore—his dad didn't even try to compromise—and he hated most of all that he got himself into this fucking—

"Um, excuse me?"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

When angry blue eyes met cool opaque ones, Naruto realized just what he had said. He slumped his shoulders and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck lazily with a tired expression. Fuck, there he goes again. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Whatever." The student said with cold malice. "You left your backpack in the office, dobe."

The raven haired male looked at the blonde with a coy smirk. "Or maybe I should say, Kuruma?"

The office aide threw Naruto's beloved orange backpack next to the blonde's feet and promptly walked away, leaving Naruto in a state of complete and total horror.

He was having one hell of a bad day.


	2. Apology

Not even Satan himself would approach the aura of animosity Sasuke Uchiha emitted in the Publications room.

"Sasuke-san, you're the only one with the capability to cover this issue well." Even Neji Hyuga, the great Editor-In-Chief and star student, stammered a little bit at the death glare Sasuke shot him.

The rest of the staff shifted their seats until Neji Hyuga was the only one standing in an isolated circle of Sasuke's own murderous intent. Sasuke could already feel the judgement coming from the rest of the students, forming their whispers into coherent sentences in his head. _"They were right about the Uchihas...is he really part of the Akatsuki...I heard that he has two kills under his belt already...drug dealer...gangster..." _Sasuke tightened his grip on his camera until his knuckles turned white and clenched his jaw. He was so tired of this shit.

"I'm listed as a photographer, not a writer." Sasuke retorted coldly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw an orange pencil box sitting innocently on the desk and the dark aura surrounding him became nearly tangible. All he could think about was that ugly orange backpack. "_It's the first day of school, why don't you try doing something nice and be more social this year?" _His mother said. "_It'll be rewarding." _His mother said. "_People aren't as bad as they seem." _His mother said. Sasuke grit his teeth; this is what he gets for trying to be nice for once. Even idiots like that blonde from this morning were treating him like shit, when the only crime he's ever committed was being an Uchiha. Just thinking about the incident made his blood boil, but Sasuke should be used to stuff like this - he's been dealing with it his whole life.

"Your position doesn't exclude you from writing articles, I need you to join our team in order to cover this issue well, because this is the first attempt our school has made to aid students who are lacking." Neji said authoritatively. "If you refuse, then I'm going to have to reconsider your necessity in this staff."

A cold breeze swept over the room as silence followed through and one girl could've sworn she heard Sasuke growl.

"Fine." Sasuke finally forced out, eyeing the EIC with malice.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Even Neji's shoulders seemed to slump, just in the slightest manner.

"Great. The after school program is in Kakashi-sensei's classroom, be sure not to be late."

* * *

Not even Satan himself would approach the aura of animosity Naruto Uzumaki emitted in the classroom.

"Where's the god damn teacher?" Naruto cried out, slamming his fists down on the desk while jumping up from his seat. The meeting started half an hour ago, yet Kakashi-sensei was still nowhere to be found. Naruto looked out the window and tightened his fists into white knuckles. Coach Iruka was down by the basketball courts, hollering out commands and preparing the team for the season, while he was stuck in this stupid after school program for a teacher that didn't even bother to show up.

The classroom seemed to be filled up with all types of students, but none of them were familiar to Naruto. After being thrown out of private school for misdemeanor and bad behavior, most of these faces from Konoha High were new to him. He saw a pink haired girl eye him with disgust and that's when Naruto realized that private school girls and public school girls might not be so much different after all.

Another student with red markings on his face scoffed. "Calm your ass down, stupid. That bastard Kakashi is never on time with these sort of things."

"Who are you calling stupid, dog-shit?" Naruto challenged, raising a fist at the other boy.

The boy scowled, baring his teeth like fangs. "You better choose your opponents wisely, blondie. You wouldn't want to punch out another student body president now would you?"

Just as Naruto was about to pounce, the door burst open with a man whose lower face was covered with a mask. He stuffed a book into his coat and his eyes crinkled as if he was smiling at the group of students. He didn't look a day over twenty five, but Naruto felt his stomach lurch when they made eye contact. Kakashi quickly looked away. There was something oddly familiar about him that reminded Naruto of dark rooms and the stale scent of mint. A shiver coursed through his body, causing him to sit back down quietly.

"So sorry I was late. I was stopped by a group of girls who wanted to give me love letters." Kakashi said sheepishly.

"Don't pretend to be popular, Kakashi." Sasuke Uchiha stepped into the room with a HDR camera hanging loosely from his neck and a notepad in his hands. His face seemed to be permanently stuck on a frown as he gave the room a once-over. He ignored the look of disapproval Neji gave him across the room for being late. Kakashi didn't seem to mind the lack of formality in the way Sasuke addressed him and instead smiled pleasantly.

"Glad you could join us, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at this and scanned the room for an empty seat, but in a sea of brown and black, the blonde head stuck out like a sore thumb in the corner window seat. _No fucking way _Sasuke thought, feeling like the victim of a really bad prank. Just as if his day couldn't get any worse, the stupid blondie that caused his bad mood and ruined his whole "be a good person" vibe was staring back at him like a hurt little puppy. Sasuke promptly sat in the front row and opened up his notepad, staring at Kakashi with disinterest.

With confusion and guilt swimming around in his stomach, Naruto kept giving apologetic glances to the back of the raven's head. He wished he could just go over there and just explain to him that he was in a really bad mood and his dad and the principal were making really shitty decisions and that Coach Iruka would never forgive him and that it's the first day of school where Naruto really wanted to get rid of his violent image and start afresh but instead -

"Now that we all seem to be present, how about we start with introductions?" Kakashi clapped his hands and smiled brightly, but all he got in return was sullen faces.

* * *

Naruto felt like he was in a teenage version of AA meetings.

Kakashi made them sit around in a huge circle and state their name and reason of their presence. Turns out, the boy with the red markings on his face was Kiba Inuzuka and he got in trouble after his dog, who he sneaked in, bit the PE teacher Gai-sensei. The introductions kept going on and on with Shikamaru Nara and Tenten and a really pretty girl named Sakura Haruno and some weirdo named Rock Lee, until Naruto found himself standing in front of the whole group, half-dazed and with a headache starting between his eyes.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm here because I punched out the student body president after he bad-mouthed the Konoha PD."

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw the raven sneer at him. He felt his anger bristle for a tiny second, but after the incident from this morning, Naruto reminded himself to bite back his tongue. He needed to make a good impression so that maybe, if he behaved well, the old geezer of a principal will revoke his punishment. Naruto could already feel the tournament trophy in his hands and hear the crowd screaming out his name.

"Now that we've all done our introductions, I'm going to pair you guys up into groups of three. Each group will be assigned a task every week relating to helping the school and the community. If I see that one of your group members is falling behind in their grades, then the whole group must form a study group until their member gets back on track." Kakashi chuckled at the groans he heard from the group. "It might sound like a hassle and some of you might not even want to be friends with the person sitting next to you, but you guys are freshmen in high school. The best thing you can do is to trust one another as a team and build bonds that last a lifetime. Got it?"

Kakashi went on to announce the teams by numbers and Kakashi pointed at Sakura and said,"You'll be in Team Seven with..." Naruto crossed his fingers. "...Naruto Uzumaki..." Naruto cried out in joy. "...and Sasuke Uchiha."

Both boys looked at each other in mild shock and Naruto's celebration was cut short. Sasuke clicked his tongue in disgust and Naruto scowled at him. He knew he was a total jerk this morning but Sasuke just wouldn't get over it - it's been nearly the whole day for fuck's sake! Naruto had to make sure to properly apologize to him so they could finally put this whole incident behind them. If Naruto wanted to show the principal that he was ready to play in basketball this season, then he needed Sasuke to NOT hate his guts.

"Your first assignment as a group is to get to know each other and become comfortable, you'll be spending a lot of time with one another. I scheduled another meeting for the end of this week, where you wil be getting your next assignments. Don't think of this program as detention, but a chance to get closer to your school and your home." Kakashi's gaze lingered on Naruto as he spoke, which made the blonde's hair stand on its end. His eyes were strangely clouded and Naruto couldn't pinpoint the feeling of isolation and fright he felt whenever they made contact. "With this, you're all free to go."

Naruto felt like he could finally breathe once Kakashi left the room. The room was filled with greetings and chit chat, while he stared at both of his team mates who stayed silent. Naruto decided to try to console Sasuke first and gave his shoulder a friendly tap.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about this morning. I was just -"

Sasuke got up from seat, without giving Naruto a second glance. "Look, what happened this morning doesn't matter to me anymore. But," Sasuke gave Naruto a cold look, "I'm not interested in being part of this team business, especially not with the likes of you."

Sasuke began to walk out of the room and Naruto watched his frame disappear from the classroom, stuck by disbelief. The bristle of anger from earlier suddenly grew into a volcanic explosion, as the day's stresses slowly started to pile up on Naruto's shoulders. Mizuki, his father, the principal, not being able to play basketball, Kakashi; all of it was starting to spill over until Naruto found himself dashing out of the classroom, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Sasuke, you jerk!"

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, but merely turned his head slightly to the side at the sound of Naruto's voice. The hallways were casted in an orange glow due to the late afternoon light and the way it reflected off of Sasuke's eyes made it look red. Naruto took a deep breath and squared his feet, fists balling up at his sides.

"I'm really sorry about yelling at you this morning because I was in a bad mood because even though I promised my dad that I wouldn't get into any more fights, I got in trouble anyway and now I can't be part of the varsity basketball team anymore and I'm more mad at myself than anybody else! The one thing I could've done right today was apologize to you so please...I'm sorry!"

A few moments of silent passed between them, the only noise being the sound of Naruto's panting. Finally, Sasuke turned around and opaque eyes met blue ones, except this time, Naruto felt his heart skip a beat.

"I accept your apology."

Naruto stood there until the sound of Sasuke's footsteps slowly started to dim into silence, covering the lower half of his face with his hand, just to conceal the blush spreading across his cheeks.


	3. Baby Photos

_**A/N: **_I wanted to say first of all, that I'm sorry it took so long to update this story. I've lost my flow for writing and found myself having not written anything for months. I was basically dried out of ideas and inspiration. Every time I did try to write, the ugliness of it all just made me stop. But the thing is though...I love writing. Writing is what makes me feel like I have a purpose or a meaning on this Earth. I've been feeling like a speck of dust out of the billions of people who are living on this planet and I realized, after not writing for so long, that something about the way words work and the way stories make you feel...it just breathes life into you.

This story will not be my best, because I don't really know what my best is honestly. I hate everything I'm writing right now and I started up this fanfiction again in order to spark up some inspiration in me and get my creative juices flowing. Don't worry though, even though I have to remind myself every other sentence not to quit, I'm really enjoying the feeling of creating again. (Well, even though Naruto is by Kishimoto and I just turned it into a cliched high school romance, but like I said - my creative juices are exactly Niagara falling right now.)

With that said, I hope you can accept MY own apology and I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for people who enjoy reading this story. It makes great encouragement. Reviews are lovely, even though they are distracting because I spend the next ten minutes bawling from joy, reviews are lovely.

* * *

Naruto splashed his face with water, feeling flustered at his own appearance. Hints of red still lingered on his cheeks and Naruto dragged his hands through his hair in frustration. What was wrong with him? Why on earth would he blush from something like that? His head spun with questions, leading to no answers.

He just wanted to apologize to Sasuke and get it over with but when the brunette turned around and the light did this thing where it reflected off of his eyes and cast a shadow over his face - with that smirk on his lips - he looked so...

Naruto felt his face burn.

_He looked so hot._

By the time Naruto got back from the restroom, almost everyone was gone except for a girl sitting near the windows, staring out with a calm expression. With the window opened slightly, a light breeze went through the room, causing her long pink hair to fly gently away from her face and fall upon her shoulders. Naruto stared at her wide eyed, thinking that she was the image of the perfect girl.

Now _this_ should be the stuff that he should be attracted to. Not an unforgiving brunette.

"Sakura-chan, you're not going to head home? It's getting pretty late." Naruto said, hoping that it would lead to him walking her home.

Sakura gave him a glance and slowly got up from her seat. "I hope you don't think that just because we're in the same team, you can get together with me. I'm only in here because I heard Sasuke-kun was going to be covering this."

Sakura glared at him then and the peaceful girl staring out the window turned into a ball of fury, with her pink hair rising up in the air like snakes ready for attack. "I've been in love with Sasuke-kun since elementary school and president of his fan club since middle school! The fact that we're on the same team is a gift from God and I'm not going to let some dimwit ruin this chance for me! You got that!?"

If Naruto hadn't already gone to the restroom a few moments ago, then he definitly would've pissed himself.

"O-Okay, I'll stay out of it from now on..." Naruto stammered.

"Wise choice."

Sakura stormed out of the room and Naruto sighed heavily.

This day just kept getting worse and worse.

* * *

Since Konoha High was a lot closer to Naruto's home than his previous private school, biking to and from home was one of the positive aspects of moving schools. He loved being outdoors and just the feeling of crisp air running through his hair cleared his thoughts. The pathway he took home was right on the edge of the lake so he could smell the fresh water and grass; for the first time today, Naruto finally felt at peace.

From the distance, he saw a black speck on the side of road and squinted his eyes to get a closer look. Naruto slowed down to a brake and stared mouth wide open at the supposed "black speck." Crouching next to a beaten up bike was -

"Sasuke?!"

Sasuke looked up with surprise and that's when the blonde knew that even the cold-hearted raven was capable of other looks besides scowls and sexy smir - Naruto blushed before he could finish his thoughts. Now was not the time to be thinking about that.

"What happened to your bike?" Naruto tried to avert his attention. He noticed the flat tire and bent wires on the bike, looking beyond repairable. Sasuke's uniform was stained with mud and grass stains, almost as if he skidded across the pathway. Naruto gasped. "Was it a hit and run? Which way did the bastard go?" Naruto frantically looked left and right. "I'll catch him for you!"

"Calm down, Konoha PD." Sasuke said dryly. "A cat ran across the path and I slid off the road trying to avoid it. I'm lucky I didn't fall into the lake."

Sasuke dusted off his clothes, scowling at the thought of cleaning it and glanced at the blonde again. Sasuke felt an automatic urge to punch him.

"Why are you smiling at me like that?"

Naruto was giving him a big goofy grin. "Nothing, its just heartening that's all."

"What is?"

"Well I only ever seen you mad or madder, so its just nice to think that you went through all of that just to save a cat."

Sasuke grumbled. "It's not like I'm some murderer."

"Honestly, I think you make scarier faces than murderers."

Sasuke glared and Naruto clamped his mouth shut. He smiled sheepishly again. "Sorry, I don't have a filter whenever I speak."

"Clearly."

"But at least you know I'm always being truthful."

Sincerity sprouted from the blonde's sapphire eyes and Naruto almost didn't look like the immature loud mouth who Sasuke saw in the morning. He remembered the way Naruto chased after him in the hallways, out of breath with glossy eyes that stared at him intensely, all of those words spilling out of his mouth. He felt his lips turn in a half-smile. Sasuke regarded the blonde with a new interest.

"You're really not from around here are you?"

Naruto shook his head. "I've always lived in Konoha but I went to a private school up north. So I guess you can say I'm new."

"You'd have to be new to not know who Mizuki is."

"I don't need to know about Mizuki to punch him in the face for being a douchebag."

Sasuke shrugged. "I guess."

After the apology, his feelings towards Naruto were still slightly on the negative side but the more he talked to him like this, the more Sasuke felt more willing to put him more towards the neutral end. Sasuke looked at his bike and sighed inwardly. His house was still a long way up the road but he'd have no choice but to walk the rest of the way.

"Do you need a ride home?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto's one bike warily. "You mean..."

"Just stand on the back and hold onto my shoulders. I'm a pretty good rider."

"I'll just walk."

"Eh? Sasuke, wait!"

Naruto led his bike towards Sasuke and jogged towards him until they were walking at the same pace. "C'mon, think of it as an extended apology from this morning. Just tell me where you live and I'll take you there."

Sasuke had this irked feeling like a fly was hovering around his head. "My house is all the way down this road, next to the ramen shop. It's pretty far so just go home already, I can take care of myself."

"Seriously? I live near there too! Ichiraku Ramen right?"

Sasuke felt dread pool in the pit of his stomach. "Yeah..."

"Heh, then its no problem since we're neighbors!"

"I'd rather not - "

" - My dad was really disappointed in me for getting into fights again and the only way I could've made this day right was by apologizing to you but I still feel really bad not doing anything to make up for it since - "

" - okay, okay! Jesus, I get it already!" Sasuke climbed on the back of the bike, hoping that it would shut the blonde up. "But just this one time alright?"

Naruto grinned like a doofus again and started riding off. He felt Sasuke's hands grip his shoulders for leverage and the contact made his stomach flutter, but he ignored it the best he could. And usually when Naruto wants to ignore something, he talks.

"You know, ever since I was little I've always been the violent type. My dad says I get it from my mom and that's why my nickname is Kurama. It's a name from my grandpa's books where the main character fights off this demon fox. The main character is named Naruto - that's my name by the way - and the fox was Kurama. My mom said that sometimes I was Naruto and sometimes I was Kurama. Oh! And this one time..."

Sasuke sighed heavily as Naruto kept going on and on, deciding to focus more on the scenery of the lakeside. As they passed by the shores, Sasuke saw an image of two young brothers running side by side, laughing with merriment. He quickly shook the image off and gripped onto Naruto's shoulders a little bit tighter.

And they stayed like that the rest of the way home, with Naruto rambling about his life and Sasuke listening with half-interest but still paying attention nonetheless.

* * *

They only lived one street away from each other.

Naruto opened the front of his gate and tied his bike next to the tree where a wooden swing swayed along with the wind. His mind wandered off to a time where his dad barely finished constructing it and told Naruto to try it out. They spent hours on that swing everyday, listening to his mom tell him stories and sing him songs as she pushed him and then jumped into his dad's arms. The sweet nostalgia made Naruto's heart ache when he thought about his mother and how he'll never be able to hear her stories about jumping gangsters and dad's embarrassing high school moments.

"I'm home!" Naruto called out when he opened the door and took off his shoes.

"Welcome home!" His dad responded, his voice coming from the kitchen.

Naruto and his dad lived in a modest place, with only two bedrooms and baths but Naruto loved every square inch of it. A lot of memories lay in this household and he wouldn't trade it in for the largest mansion in the world. He practically ran into the kitchen, clutching his stomach that was dying for food. The smell of curry hit him as he walked in and immediately his mouth watered. There was nothing better than a nice home-cooked meal after a tough day.

"How was the club meeting?"

"Less talking, more eating." Naruto said, scooping up a heaping amount of rice onto his plate.

Minato sighed and placed a cup of milk next to his son who seem to all but swallow his plate of food. His massive appetite started after many days of rigorous exercises Coach Iruka put the team through and Naruto just had to go the extra mile (quite literally) when it came to these sort of things. His scrawny little boy was showing hints of a strong, toned body and his milky white skin was now a light caramel color from hours under the hot sun. Minato felt a little bad agreeing to putting Naruto into the program, even after he spent many dinners listening to Naruto talk about basketball.

But Minato saw the light bruise on the side of his son's face (he always healed inhumanly fast) and knew that his decision was right. If Naruto didn't know how to handle himself and control his anger, then worse things will happen than spending some time afterschool. It might be good for Naruto, to gain some discipline and earn a few friends because God knows Naruto hasn't had many.

After taking Naruto to the station so many times, it always astounded Minato on how Naruto always got along so well with people who deal with the wrong side of the law, but Naruto was naturally a forgiving person. He could probably even see the best in a murderer, the boy was so naive.

But like most fathers, he would rather his son made friends with people that werent ex-convicts.

"Did you make any new friends from the club?"

Naruto stuffed a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "Not really, everyone was pretty mean in that room. But there was this one person who I think I might get along with..."

"Oh? And how is he like?"

* * *

"...obnoxious, rude, annoying and stupid."

Mikoto lightly flicked Sasuke on the forehead, something his family always did to him whenever he was small. He hated it whenever she did that; it made him feel like a child.

"Don't talk bad about people when you barely know them." His mother warned, but she felt a little bit amused. She usually never hears this much from Sasuke about school and certainly not about other students. She smiled inwardly. Perhaps Sasuke is finally opening up his shell.

"He talks really funny too. He always says datebayyo after every other sentence, he's such a weird guy."

"But you don't sound like you hate him."

(_"Hey Sasuke?" Naruto's voice lowered to a timid whisper. _

_Sasuke got off the bike and stared at Naruto's face, which was red and even shy-looking. Big sapphire eyes met his and they seemed to be pleading. _

_"Do you think you can keep the Kurama name a secret? It's kind of embarrassing..." Naruto pouted like a child and Sasuke just gave Naruto an amused smirk. _

_"Hn. Take it as a thank you for giving a ride home." Sasuke opened his gate look looked back at Naruto with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Kurama."_

_Well what do you know, Sasuke thought, even someone like Naruto can look cute.)_

Sasuke swirled his rice around in his bowl until it made a spiral. It reminded him of...

"Naruto isn't a bad person. He's honest." And his eyes are really pretty, Sasuke added as an afterthought.

Mikoto's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "Am I hearing correctly? Did my cold-blooded son really compliment another person?"

"Why does everyone keeps getting surprised?" Sasuke murmured, feeling annoyed.

His mother hummed to herself, tapping her finger on the table as if she was trying to remember something. "Naruto...Naruto...ah! Naruto Uzumaki! Isn't he Minato-san's son?"

"How do you know that?"

His mom smiled gleefully at him and skipped towards the living room. Even when she was trying to be playful, the way she scummaged through the unpacked boxes still looked graceful. Sasuke cleared the table and joined his mom surrounded by photo albums and pictures. Barely moving into the new house two weeks ago, a lot of things were still left undone. They barely got the mattresses delivered two days ago so they've been camping out in the living room until they got things settled.

"Mom, you're making a mess."

Mikoto took out a small stack of photos from an envelope and presented them to her son with a smile. "Back then, the police force was pretty close so whenever your father and Minato-san was on duty, Naruto's mom would always bring Naruto over to play with you."

Sasuke snatched the photos from her hands in disbelief. He used to have baby playdates with Naruto? Out of all people? As much as Sasuke didn't want it to be true, there he was as a baby reaching towards the camera and there was Naruto with his tuff of blonde hair, reaching towards Sasuke.

The photos seemed endless. Sasuke and Naruto drinking from their bottles together and Sasuke and Naruto in the playpen together and Sasuke and Naruto showering together?!

"Mom! Why are we both naked in the bathtub?" Sasuke let the pictures fall from his hands as if it burned him.

"What?" Mikoto giggled as she looked at the photo. "You guys looked adorable with your little baby butts. Why are you turning all red, Sasuke? It's just baby photos."

Sasuke scurried towards his bedroom, dragging his sleeping bag with him. "I'm going to go study in my room tonight. Good night, mom."

"But Sasuke there are still more phot - "

He slammed the door shut, trying to calm himself down. His face felt like it was on fire because god damnit, Sasuke wasn't the type to blush or be flustered but this kind of thing was just beyond him. He and that dobe...once showered together. Even if it was as babies, Sasuke never wanted to ever know what Naruto's nether regions looked like no matter what age.

And that's when it happened.

Sasuke lifted his head up and stood frozen stiff against the door, eyes shadowed by his own misfortune. Directly in front of his window was Naruto's opened one and Naruto's face matched the color of Sasuke's when he realized what he was looking at. Naruto screamed as he reached for a towel to cover his naked self. Sasuke slid to the ground to bury his face in his hands.

Sasuke Uchiha, for the second time in his life, mistakenly saw Naruto Uzumaki's penis.


	4. Team 7

reviews are my life force

* * *

Naruto wrapped a towel around his waist and slammed his window open.

His neighborhood always been small, with houses clumped up together on one block until it felt like a close-knit apartment complex than individual spaces. Jiraiya was the one that recommended Minato start his new family here, but it wasn't until Minato found Jiraiya in Naruto's room peering at a women undressing in the next house, did he realize Jiraiya's true intentions. Soon enough, news spread of an old pervert who was peeking into girl's rooms somewhere on the block and most windows were barricaded like a zombie apocalypse hit Konoha.

And after Tsunade beat the old perv to a pulp, Jiraiya's visits to Naruto decreased as well.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Naruto shouted at Sasuke's closed window.

Sasuke opened his own window, with his cheeks flushed and pink, glaring at Naruto but it somehow didn't have the same menacing effect. "I'm not the one ass naked with my window wide open!"

Naruto felt the deep rooted embarrassment for exposing himself to Sasuke. "Well because...! Because no one's lived there for years after my pervert godfather was caught peeping into a girl's bedroom!"

A dog barked in the distance and lights flickered on in various houses from all of the noise. "Keep your voice down, you idiot! Do you want to show the whole neighborhood your own little Kurama down there?" Sasuke snapped.

"What are you calling little?!" Naruto cried out in anger, one foot already on the window sill ready to pounce. "I'll have you know I am _very_ developed!"

Naruto held his fist up angrily, expecting Sasuke to say something back but instead Sasuke stayed silent staring at him. The redness started from his neck and upwards as the brunette found himself frozen, because...Naruto looked down and realized that his position on the window was exposing everything to the Uchiha. Naruto yelped and quickly jumped down from the window, unable to do anything but blush and feel the shame creep up on him.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Minato called.

Naruto quickly dragged the orange curtains over the windows hastily as his dad opened the door. "I'm fine, dad. I was just...uh...trying to ward off a really annoying car."

A loud thump sounded from outside the window. Naruto laughed nervously but his brows twitched with anger. Fucking Sasuke. "You see? It just won't leave me alone."

Minato lifted an eyebrow at his son's odd behavior. "Alright, but keep quiet 'cause I got a call from the neighbors."

Naruto gaped. "It's only been like five seconds and they're already complaining?"

"They would rather call after five seconds than hear five seconds_ more_ about how 'well developed' you are, Naruto."

The door shut and Naruto stood alone in his room, feeling like the biggest idiot that ever screamed out the window about his genitals. _This is all Sasuke's fault! _Naruto cursed to himself, opening a small crack of his curtains, but Sasuke already shielded his side up with the binds closed and a small paper taped onto the window that read:

**KEEP YOUR WINDOWS SHUT WHEN YOU'RE CHANGING, DOBE. **

Naruto huffed, about to shut the curtains but his eyes lingered for a few more seconds, thinking about smirks and flustered faces, heart thumping wildly against his chest.

_Why was Sasuke Uchiha blushing so much anyway?_

The next morning afterward, it still didn't make sense to the blonde.

Even in private school, there were locker rooms and showers, so seeing another dude's privates were all but natural. During his time with the Konoha basketball team made it even more normal for him - Naruto's never seen so many penises hanging around so comfortably in his life. The only reason why Sasuke would react like a schoolgirl to Naruto's private parts is if...

Naruto screamed out in frustration with his hands wringing out his hair; face burning from all of the possibilities.

This math teacher threw an eraser at him and shouted. "UZUMAKI! THIS IS THE THIRD TIME YOU DISRUPT THE CLASS! DETENTION!"

Naruto massaged his forehead which was painfully forming a small bump. "Ehhh?! SENSEI THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

Some students laughed but others just stared at him distastefully.

Like he was a freak.

* * *

_"...hey isn't that the kid who beat up Mizuki..." "...I heard he threatened to beat up a kid during class today and screamed like some animal..." "...I saw Sasuke Uchiha and the new kid walking home the other day..." "...well, of course those two monsters would be friends..."_

Sakura Haruno had no interest in anything other than Sasuke Uchiha. She could care less about school and grades and some loser named Naruto Uzumaki but when that said "loser" walks home with Sasuke Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha _lets _that said "loser" walk with him, then Sakura has some serious business to take care of. She stormed through the hallways of students, ignoring every piece of gossip she happened to hear along the way. The only thing she's concerned about is that Naruto Uzumaki doesn't get the hots for _her _man.

_Stupid new kid taking time out of MY lunch time with Sasuke. _"Naruto!" Sakura stormed into the detention room, ready for a battle. "I need to talk to you about something important!"

"What is it?"

Sakura looked around the empty room, perplexed at the lack of students. She looked down at her feet and there was Naruto Uzumaki, scrubbing at the classroom floor with only a toothbrush in his hands. He looked up at her with piercing eyes, waiting for her to answer the question. Sakura cleared her throat, giving him a glare.

"I need to know what's your relationship with Sasuke-kun."

"How the hell should I know?" Naruto threw the toothbrush down in anger, making Sakura jump. "Listen Sakura-chan, I got detention during lunch and afterschool because my English teacher hates me and now some stupid seniors stole my backpack and they aren't going to give it back to me unless I finish cleaning by lunchtime. The last thing I need is to talk about that cocky ass Uchiha!"

Naruto got face full of Sakura's shoes as she kicked him square in the face. "Don't you dare badmouth Sasuke-kun like that!"

"Hmph! I can't believe I thought you were competition, Sasuke-kun would never fall for someone like you!" Sakura gave him one last kick before she stalked out of the room. She stopped just before the door and kicked open a cabinet - only Naruto would be stupid enough to fall for those stupid senior's prank when the janitor's closet was in front of him the whole time. Sakura grabbed a mop and tossed it near Naruto, not looking at him as she spoke.

"That should make the work get done faster."

Naruto gazed at the mop on the floor and then up at Sakura with a look of enchantment, as if he stumbled upon God himself. "Sakura-chan..."

"D-Don't think that this makes us friends! I'll destroy anyone who gets in the way of me and Sasuke-kun!" Sakura stammered.

Naruto beamed at her, looking into emerald eyes.

"You're a really kind person, Sakura."

Sakura felt something warm in her chest and her eyes widened from Naruto's grin and sincere gaze. She felt her lips twitch upwards into a smile as she left the room.

"Whatever, loser - oof!" Sakura knocked into something hard, realizing that she just bumped into another student. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Hn."

Sakura gasped at the sound of Sasuke's face and looked up at the brunette's gorgeous face. She's never been so close to him before she thought as she caught a whiff of his scent. My god - it smelled like the breath of God after drinking the richest wine in heaven. A chorus of angels fluttered around her singing melodies. Could this be the start of their relationship? An accidental moment of meeting blossoming into love? The thought made her so happy that she felt herself melt into Sasuke's arms, with a blissful smile on her lips.

"Can you let go out me now?"

The chorus of angels stopped singing, broken off by the coldness of his voice. Sakura immediately removed herself (unwillingly) from him, cheeks rosy and shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"S-Sasuke-kun, I didn't expect you to be there. Perhaps you were looking for me?" Sakura's voice turned soft and timid, like a innocent school girl.

"Not really."

The whole room turned frigid and the angels flew away from Sakura who was still smiling daintily but on the inside, her hopes and dreams shattered to pieces.

Sasuke strolled past Sakura and loomed over Naruto who still held the toothbrush in his hands. Naruto felt his cheeks go hot because even with clothes on, he still felt insecurely naked around the raven. Sasuke noticed the blonde's discomfort and quickly looked away, trying to stay aloof.

"I saw some guys trying to trying to throw this thing away in the dumpster and I thought it would be shameful to even put this ugly thing on the same level as trash." Sasuke said.

Sasuke dangled Naruto's orange backpack in front of him and he gazed at Sasuke in awe.

Naruto wiped his nose, feeling touched. "You helped me?"

Sasuke sighed and glanced at both Sakura and Naruto. "Kakashi said that we had to get along as a team since we're going to be doing whatever crap together. It would be a hassle for me later when I'm writing the article and I won't have anything to say about team work."

"Mah, Sasuke-kun you're so considerate!" Sakura squealed.

Sasuke grabbed another mop from the closet. "Even if it means dealing with a dobe like you, _Kurama_."

Naruto bristled at the nickname. "Just shut up and help me get this done."

"Ah! I packed two lunches today because I wanted to give one to Sasuke-kun, but..." Sakura smiled at Naruto and winked at him mischievously. "I guess Naruto-kun can have it. If Sasuke-kun wants us to be a team then we'll be a team."

Naruto heard the angels coming back to sing again. "Sakura-chan...!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't jizz yourself and just get to work. I'll go get the lunches!"

Sakura ran out of the room, but didn't catch Kakashi standing by the door with a book in his hands and a smile across his face, looking at the two boys quarreling in the room, like they've known each other for years.

* * *

"As you may know, there have been some tagging and graffiti incidents at Konoha High. The principal would like our first assignment to be cleaning up the mess that you peers so generously drawn for us."

The whole class groaned and Naruto mumbled angrily to himself. "Why do we have to act like the school's janitors?"

They sat in accommodation to their teams so Kiba, who was in Team 8, easily kicked Naruto's seat. "Was Mizuki worth all of this, Naruto?

After they headbutted with each other, Naruto and Kiba were able to sort out their differences and actually found that they made great friends. More and more, the duo walked each other to class and spent lunch together, but Kiba already had a homebase group from middle school and Naruto was never able to break that barrier. He's never been part of any group or cliche and it's been so long, that he's never even sure if he_ wants_ to be part of one.

"The look on his face before I punched him out was well worth it. You should've seen it; not even Jesus Christ would've been able to save him." The two snickered to each other as Kakashi gave out instructions.

"Make sure to do a good job, if your peers see that you're trying to keep the school looking clean, then other people will follow in suit. Everything starts with each other, everyone understand?"

"Yes, sensei." The whole class sang in a deary voice.

"Team 7 and 8, take care of the west wing in the first and second floor. Take special attention to restrooms and don't forget to check back in with me after you finished." Kakashi instructed.

"Oh, lucky! Looks like we're working together Naruto." Kiba put Naruto in a headlock as he dragged the blonde out of his seat. Naruto tried to wiggle himself out of the death grip, but still felt himself laughing.

Both teams walked towards the west wing with Kiba and Naruto making stupid jokes while Sakura tried to make conversation with Hinata Hyuuga. Two boys trailed behind the social group, walking side by side in an awkward silence. Shino Aburame adjusted his glasses and gave a careful glance towards Sasuke, feeling himself break into a sweat. Sasuke, on the other hand, paid no attention to anything around him.

Sakura and Hinata took care of the girl's restrooms, Shino and Sasuke cleaned up the hallways and Kiba and Naruto took care of the boy's. Naruto scrubbed over the nonsense markings of students bashing teachers and classes, but he stopped when he noticed that there was a cloud marking on the far end corner of the stall.

The clouds were painted in with red and Naruto felt his stomach churn, just like whenever he saw Kakashi. How strange.

"You curious about what that cloud means?" Kiba poked his head from the upside of the stall with a sly grin.

Naruto nodded. "I've seen these once or twice before and I feel like I should know about it, but nothing comes to mind."

Kiba inched closer until his face was merely inches away from Naruto's. "It's the symbol for the Akatsuki." He saw the shook written on the latter's face and continued his story with enthusiasm. "My mom tells me that back then, these signs meant that drugs were sold, but not just your usual type. Weed and heroin and meth were like candy to these people, so they created a new kind of drug that was only exclusive to the Akatsuki. Since your dad came along and took down the whole drug gang, no one's ever seen the drug since. Rumor has it that the Akatsuki is still out there though and they're targeting high school students. I mean, who knows? One of the Akatsuki could be in our classes right now and we'll never know."

"But you want to know something scarier?" Kiba hovered over Naruto until it seemed like he was floating above the toilet seat. "My mom said that the red clouds weren't the original symbol...it used to be a red and white fan...you know what that means? It means the Uchihas are - "

Kiba made a choked sound of pain as he was suddenly pulled back from the stalls, body thrashing against the walls. Naruto ran to the stall and stilled at the sight he saw.

Sasuke held Kiba by the neck, fingers digging into the boy's skin until Kiba was clawing at Sasuke's arms. Sasuke didn't falter in his grip as red lines marred his arm and gripped Kiba's neck even tighter, slamming him against the wall and lifting him up until his feet dangled. Sasuke's eyes were red with murder, filled with unleashed anger; his whole body convulsing with the intensity of his rage.

"Don't you...EVER..." Sasuke's voice was deep and rough, spitting the words out like venom. "...talk shit about my family."

Nothing registered in Naruto's mind until he saw Kiba's face slowly start to turn purple as he gasped for air. He shoved Sasuke against the wall, pressing their bodies together and pinning both of the raven's hands high above his head. The force of the slam made the hinges of the stall sway a little, nails falling to the ground. For a second, Naruto's eyes mimicked Sasuke's - red and full of anger.

Kiba fell to the ground, clutching his neck, coughing. "You fucking crazy bastard..." Kiba wheezed.

Naruto could feel Sasuke's heart thumping against his chest and his labored breathing against his cheeks. Their faces were merely a few centimeters apart, but the way Sasuke looked at him made it feel like he was miles away. Sasuke pulled himself from Naruto's grip and stormed out of the restroom, leaving Naruto in a state of confusion.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Sakura took a few tentative steps into the restroom with Hinata trailing behind her. Hinata's hands shot up to her mouth when she saw Kiba on the floor and red finger marks on his neck; she ran over to him immediately, almost in tears.

Sakura looked taken back, but then her shoulders slumped as if Sasuke's rage was pinning on her shoulders. "I heard everything. Hinata and I were just outside in the hallways. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Sasuke-kun for you two."

"It's okay. I'm just happy it went as far as it did." Naruto curled his hands into fists. "I didn't realize that Sasuke..."

Sakura placed a hand over his as if to soothe him. "Naruto, do you want to walk me home today?"

Naruto stared at her, but her emerald eyes shone with determination. Naruto could only nod and squeeze her hand in response.

Kakashi ended the project early because of Kiba's wounds and Naruto found himself walking along side Sakura in the late afternoon with his bike being the only noise between them. He didn't know why Sakura wanted him to walk her home today, but he guessed that it probably had to do with Sasuke. Thinking back on the moment and the look of ferocity in his eyes - the look of murder - made Naruto shiver.

"Since you're new, you probably don't know the rumors." Sakura stated.

Naruto shook his head. "I always knew the Uchihas had a bad reputation because of what happened with the police force, but no one ever talked about it at my private school. Most people there were from Sunagakure, so not many people knew about Konoha."

Sakura sighed, lifting her face up to the sky. She hated talking about Sasuke's past, even with all of her obsessiveness, because she knew Sasuke hated it. "I'm only telling you this once so listen up."

"The Uchihas used to be a really respected family. My parents told me that most of them became great police officers and service leaders, but crime rates started to increased and tensions were high in the city. Like Kiba said, symbols of the Uchiha's fan started to appear in various parts of Konoha and people started to suspect that they were secretly the cause of all of the trouble. The police force ganged up against the existing Uchiha officers and rumors had it that they were planning to rebel and take over Konoha. But then..."

"...Itachi Uchiha happened." Naruto finished. He barely remembered anything from his childhood.

Sakura nodded. "Sasuke's older brother. He killed a lot of people in the police force, even his own family members, and that's when the fans turned into red clouds. People say that was the start of the Akatsuki, when Itachi cut off his ties. I barely remember the gang wars that happened for the next few years, because we were in elementary school but I just know that the police department was in chaos and my mom would never let me play outside because it was too dangerous. It wasn't until your dad came in and cleaned everything up did Konoha actually started to get better, but everyone blamed the Uchihas for turning the city into some war zone. A lot of them moved away, some of them even killed by vigilante groups...just like Sasuke's dad."

Naruto's insides turned cold. "His dad...?"

"Well that's what everyone says, but for some reason, the police department never issued a full investigation and just declared it as an unknown cause of death. Sasuke-kun changed after that and as we grew older, more people started to shun him out after finding out the meaning behind his name." Sakura clenched her fists. She remembered bullies and tears and sitting alone behind the school.

She remembered a raven-haired boy, giving her a flower in the school courtyard.

"It's just...so unfair how they treat Sasuke-kun like that." Sakura mumbled sadly. "He's actually a really good person - I know he is. I wish I can help him but all I can do is follow him around and hope that he notices me because I promise - I _promise _- that I'll be so good to him that he doesn't remember any of the bad stuff and only on the good things in life I'll - "

Tears fell from Sakura's face and Naruto put a comforting arm around her, heart heavy.

"I really love him." Sakura said weakly. "I love him so much."

"I know, Sakura. I know."

* * *

That night, Naruto threw a pebble at Sasuke's window.

**Make sure to put some ointment on your arm. I'm sorry. **

It wasn't until an hour later did he get a knock on his window.

**Mind your own business, dobe.**

Naruto threw another pebble.

**My friend's business is my business, jerk.**

He was just about to go to sleep, when another knock sounded.

**Thanks. For stopping me. Good night. **

Naruto smiled, feeling like things were about to get back to normal, but deep down he couldn't stop wondering about how long Sasuke lived with so much loneliness in his eyes.


End file.
